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STUDENT LUXURIES: Your interesting article on how much students spend on non-essentials, such as alcohol, cigarettes, going out and eating out (University survival guide, September 10) showed that these four non-essentials represent 26% of student spending and add up to £3,000 per year, that is, the cost of the university fees — with alcohol and cigarettes between them averaging just under £30 per week. I imagine this is more than many working people spend weekly on such items. — Ron Zanre, Chislehurst, Kent.

OPERATING DIFFERENCES: Dr Michael Powers QC, like many others, makes the cardinal assumption that the human body is a machine and, therefore, it must be possible to draft checklists on how to manage it (Letters, last week). However, surgery is not like flying an aeroplane or sailing a ship. Any experienced surgeon will tell you that people do not respond in identical ways to an operation and neither are